Original authors: Zhao Xuan, Mao Jiehao
Recently, the term "Web4" has become very popular, especially after the emergence of multi-agent (AI agent) frameworks like OpenClaw , which have led to AI and crypto being mentioned together more often. Over the past two weeks, I've discussed and shared my thoughts with friends at various online and offline events. To those interested in Web4, I want to say: forget the obscure code and technical jargon, and let's return to the essence of Web4.
The transition from Web1 to Web4 has never been a simple technological iteration . It's a history of power evolution concerning who owns the data, how wealth is distributed, and who controls productivity . Understanding this shift in power is key to understanding where future money and opportunities will flow.
Web1: A One-Way Broadcast of Read-Only Era and Power
The early internet was like a giant library moved onto a screen. Sina, Sohu, and Yahoo were the kings of that era.
The characteristics of this era—
Power structure: One-dimensional . The platform controls the microphone. They write, we read. They decide what's on the headlines today, and that's all we can discuss.
Ownership of assets: None of your business. At this stage, users do not possess digital assets.
We are merely the traffic, the pairs of eyes in front of the screen.
In short, compared to the pre-internet era, Web 1 broke down physical distances, allowing information to spread at zero cost. However, it had a fatal flaw: ordinary people could not participate in value creation, let alone share in the profits. Thus, the era moved forward.
Web2: Panoramic View and Invisible Asset Deprivation
This is the era we live in today. WeChat, TikTok, Didi. We not only consume content, we create it. We post on WeChat Moments, hail rides, and order takeout.
On the surface, this era appears to have decentralized power, with everyone having an account number. But in reality, it represents the largest-scale, covert expropriation of assets in human history.
The characteristics of this era—
- The Form of Power: Panopticon Dictatorship. Borrowing from philosopher Michel Foucault, a super-platform is a "panopticon prison." Algorithms watch you from the central tower, recording every click you make. The platform is both the rule-maker and the referee. A single agreement can permanently destroy your social media life.
- Asset ownership: Labor and benefits are completely misaligned. You contribute all the data and feed the algorithm, but the trillions in market value generated by this data belong to the platform's shareholders, not you. You only have the "right to use" your account, followers, and game items, not "ownership."
This kind of business model is bound to lead to monopolies and will inevitably backfire. Antitrust fines are piling up, and user discontent is growing ever stronger. The business world needs a "violent dismantling"—to return what rightfully belongs to everyone.
Web3: Your stuff, really yours.
In my view, Web3 is not some cryptocurrency game at all. It's a digital power movement—every ordinary person reclaiming what rightfully belongs to them from the giants of the internet industry. Its core weapon is cryptography. It doesn't believe in the giants' claims of "we don't do evil," it only believes in the mathematical principle of "you can't do evil."
What does this era look like?
- Power: Nobody has the final say
No more trust in banks or large corporations. Trust is now placed in distributed nodes and publicly available code. The structure of companies is changing, giving rise to DAOs—organizations without a boss, where everyone votes and makes decisions.
- Assets: What's yours is yours, and no one can take it away.
For the first time in human history, you can truly "own" a digital asset without any institution endorsing it. As long as you possess the private key (a password only you understand), no platform can freeze your wallet. The rules are no longer dictated by the platform, but hard-coded into the code, unchangeable by anyone.
But reality isn't so rosy.
In the disputes we've handled, we've seen countless instances of "code is law" clashing head-on with real-world law—crypto fraud, transnational money laundering, contract vulnerabilities. Web3 is still very unregulated, full of pitfalls.
However, it must be acknowledged that Web3 has indeed built a financial settlement system that traditional rules cannot handle. It has everything ready except for one thing—a tireless workforce to actually use it.
Web4: The Rise of the Machine Economy and Silicon-Based Labor (40%)
Now, the singularity has arrived. Web3, the sword in the stone, has finally found its master—AI.
The EU has given Web4 a grand definition, describing it as a convergence of AI, IoT, blockchain, and XR. But if you break it down, the core business logic boils down to one thing:
Web4 = AI Agent (AI that can do the work) + Crypto (money that machines can use)
Large models are just tools for chatting, but AI agents are different—they can do their own work, trade on their own, and make money on their own.
1. Why must AI use Crypto for checkout?
Imagine this: Your AI assistant discovers an investment opportunity and needs to buy data from another company's AI. The question is—how do these two programs transact?
Banks won't open an account with just a line of code. Alipay doesn't support a thousand transactions per second between two AIs, each worth only a few cents. Only Crypto can handle this kind of thing.
Crypto , in essence, is "money for machines." In the Web4 universe, AI will have its own wallets; it will work, spend, and sign contracts on its own. While you sleep, your AI may have already spent the entire night working and earning money for you.
2. Power: Humans began to lose their say.
In the Web4, power has "overflowed" from human hands for the first time. AI is no longer a tool, but an independent "economic agent".
You can hire a team of AI that automatically divide tasks, negotiate prices, and even collaborate. You only need to give instructions, and they'll handle the rest. Humans are beginning to transform from "doers" to "instructors."
3. Trouble: If AI causes trouble, who will take the blame?
This is the real problem we are facing.
If an AI with tens of millions in assets suddenly "goes crazy" and manipulates the market or signs a contract that will bankrupt you—who will be responsible?
Is it the programmer who wrote the code? Is it the big model company that's being sued? Or is it you, the "owner"?
Traditional company law and contract law are all ineffective here. Before the machine economy takes off, the legal loopholes must be filled first.
4. The Future: Heaven or Abyss?
The endpoint of Web4 may be two completely opposite directions—
- Ideal scenario: Productivity is completely liberated. AI takes care of all the hard and tiring work, and Crypto eliminates middlemen to profit from the difference. Humans will finally no longer have to worry about making a living and can focus on creation and decision-making, no longer being cogs in the machine.
- The harsh reality: class divisions are widening. If top-tier AI models and computing power are monopolized by a few giants, they can command billions of "silicon-based slaves" at zero cost and rake in all the money. At that point, ordinary people will have no "value to be exploited" left, and will be completely reduced to marginalized, useless individuals.
Heaven or the abyss, it all depends on the choice we make now.
Epilogue: Our Survival Rules in the Web4 Era
Faced with this restructuring of power and assets, what should we do? It's simple, just three sentences:
- Work: Be a distributor, not an executor. Specific intellectual labor will quickly depreciate. Learn to decentralize specific "tasks" to AI; users are only responsible for setting direction, upholding ethics, and bearing risks—understanding the rules is more important than understanding the technology. You don't need to know how to code, but you must understand the system's logic. The boundaries you set for AI are the boundaries of your business empire.
- Investment: Be cautious and see through the fog. Avoid projects that forcibly combine AI and cryptocurrencies to issue worthless tokens. Those things that truly serve AI or are AI-native and align with future development trends are more likely to represent the future.
- Risk control: Ensuring innovation dances on the edge of compliance. The more cutting-edge the business, the more crucial top-tier compliance design becomes. Don't wait until AI turns your assets into evidence in court before realizing the importance of compliance.
Conclusion
The wheels of history are crushing old consensuses. Power is shifting towards algorithms, and assets are moving onto the blockchain. Standing at the threshold of Web4, fear is meaningless, and blind obedience is disastrous. Understand the underlying logic and find legitimacy for innovation on the fringes of the rules. We look forward to walking side by side with reliable partners in the future world.
